FAQs

Shared Ownership is a scheme designed to help people who want to buy a home of their own, but who can’t afford the cost of buying the whole property outright.

Shared Ownership is a great solution if:

• you’re a first-time buyer
• you used to own a home, but can’t afford to buy one now
• you own a home and want to move but can’t afford a new home suitable for your needs
• you’re forming a new household – for example, after a relationship breakdown
• you’re an existing shared owner and want to move

For more information visit our Shared Ownership page.

You can check to see if you are eligible for shared ownership by visiting Gov.uk website.

For further information visit our Shared Ownership page.

Visit our Shared Ownership page to read our handy guide detailing the stages to buying a new Shared Ownership home with us.

You should aim to exchange contracts within three months of your reservation date. If delays occur, an extension is available.

Sales taking longer than six months require additional approval or an updated valuation.

If you die, then the shared ownership home will pass to the beneficiary or beneficiaries identified in your will, or through the intestacy process is no valid will is in place.

Any beneficiary or beneficiaries will be liable for the payment of the rent, service charge and any other costs until the home is sold.

Under a Shared Ownership lease, subletting the whole of your home is only allowed in special circumstances with your landlords permission. If you wish to sublet your home, please contact Commercial & Home Ownership by email on shared.ownership@goldinghomes.org.uk with your request detailing the reasons why.

Each request will be reviewed and a decision given on a case by case basis.

You will also need to gain written permission from your mortgage lender (if applicable) to sublet.

By subletting your home, you would become a landlord and would need to be aware of and meet the regulations that surround this.

Although subletting is not generally allowed, you’re able to take in a paying guest or lodger. If you wish to do this, please contact Commercial & Home Ownership by email on shared.ownership@goldinghomes.org.uk with your request detailing the reasons why.

You may increase your ownership in separate stages or one stage to 100% (depending upon the restrictions in your lease).

For a standard Shared Ownership lease you can purchase a minimum share of 10%. For new model Shared Ownership lease this is 5%, although with an option to purchase 1% shares each year over 15 years. Please check your lease for more information.

For more information about staircasing please visit our staircasing page.

We don’t charge an administration fee for processing your staircasing application.  However, you’ll need to pay the cost of the valuation, your legal costs and any costs imposed by your mortgage company.  Please refer to the Shared Ownership Administration Charges Guidelines and Fees on our Shared Ownership page.

It’s important to think about all the costs involved in a staircasing application before you decide to go ahead.

For more information about staircasing please visit our staircasing page.

A RICS valuation is normally valid for three months. Most staircasing purchases are completed within three months of the valuation being issued. If delays occur, extensions are available. If the purchase takes longer than nine months, additional approval is required.

The current market value of your property is determined by the Surveyor. We’ll also receive a valuation figure disregarding the uplift in value of the property due to any improvements you have made; this is the value we use to calculate the cost of the additional shares you wish to purchase.

For more information about staircasing please visit our staircasing page.

This is a condition in your lease and is to make sure that a true open market value is determined, so that you get the true price of your equity share.

Golding Homes don’t provide valuations on properties. We recommend looking at comparable properties on websites such as Rightmove and Zoopla, to get an indication of how the value of your home.

For further information please visit our Selling a Shared Ownership Home page or get in touch the Property Sales Team at Golding Homes.

We’ll advertise your property with our Sales Agents, who hold a database of potential purchasers and promote on different home selling websites.

For further information please visit our Selling a Shared Ownership Home page or get in touch the Property Sales Team at Golding Homes.

We’d normally expect the resale to complete within an average of 3-6 months;  however there are occasions when it may take longer.

For further information please visit our Selling a Shared Ownership Home page or get in touch the Property Sales Team at Golding Homes.

A RICS valuation is valid for three months.

If a buyer is found during the nomination period (4 or 8 weeks), the sale can proceed using the original valuation, whether or not additional shares are being purchased.

Outside of the nomination period, if a buyer is found and no additional shares are being purchased, the sale price can be determined by you. If additional shares are being purchased (staircasing), the original RICS valuation will be used to calculate the cost of those shares payable to us.